Airplane kite



R. P. WILLS AIRPLANE KITE Feb. 8, 1949;

Filed Feb. 6, 1948 .INVENTOR. Reuben F? Wf/As BY v A fro/ways PatentedFeb. 8, 1949 MRP N v1mm n i Iteuben Wills, Macon, (ta. f ApplicationFebruary 6, 1948, Serial No. 6,61Qj t 4. clams. (01. 244-154) Thisinvention relates to kites, and more :particularly to kites of theairplane type, 'whic hl do not requireatail.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedairplane kite without the customary long tail employed for balancing thekite of the present invention being subject to a minimum amount ofthesidewise'and 'n0se--dip-. pin common to kites of the prior artand'which is self-adjusting to changes in velocity and direction ofwind. a I I A further object of the inventionis to provide an improvedairplane kite which-is very simple in construction, inexpensive tomanufacture and very easy'to assemble, the kite responding freely tochanging wind currents without being subject to dipping or sidewisedarting action, and having self-compensating action responsive to saidchanging currents to maintain the kite balanced.

Further objectsand-advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthefollowing description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of the body portion of an assembled kite unitaccording to the present invention prior to folding to operating shape.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a completed kite employing the bodymember of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical cross-sectional view takenon line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical transverse cross-sectional view takenon line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, II designates generally the main body portionof the kite said main body portion being formed from a blank'of lighttough sheet material such as ledger paper, Celluloid, or the like,shaped as shown at 12 in Figure 1. The blank l2 comprises front Wingsl3, I3 and rear wings l4, I4 and an intermediate narrow portion l5.Secured to the front wing portion of blank l2, as by strips of adhesivetape or the like, shown at It, is a piece of light gauge steel wire H,such as piano wire, bent to U-shape and positioned with its side armsl8, 18 extending forwardly adjacent the side edges of the front wingsl3, l3 and its cross-arm l9 extending transversely of the longitudinalaxis of the blank. Secured to the rear wing portion of the blank in thesame manner is a transverse piece of similar light gauge wire 20.

The assembled blank shown in Figure 1 is folded on respective foldlines, designated at 2|, 2|, 22, 22 and 23, 23 to the shape shown inFigure 3, defining'f-r'ont wings 24, 24 at an anglebfabout degrees toeach other, and rear wings 25,25, at substantially a similar angle toeac h -otl'ier. The rear wings 25, 25 have downwardly bent end tabs 26,26. The blankis folded at its central portion to define a forwardlytapered fuselagez 't which is substantially V -shaped in transversecross-section.

Designated at 28,28 are'openings formed inthe blank bymeans of which'astring 29'may be"Secured to thekite, said openings being located'at theforward end of the fuselage 21." Designated at 3 0, 30 are additionalopenings, said openings being located on the longitudinal center linefdf 1 the blank near the rear'en'd thereofb Saidopem ings 30, 30 areemployed for securing'a propeller rod, shown at 3|, to the rear end offuselage 21, saidpropeller rod having a toy propeller 32m tata'blymounted thereon. The propeller-.rod"3li andpropeller 32"do-notcontribute to the operation of the kite but merely increase itsresemblance to an actual airplane. 7

The front wings 24, 24 are yield-ably braced by the wire H, theforwardly extending side arms I8, l8 of said wire havingresilientcantilever action with respect to the transverse portion of said wire.During flight, when a strong gust of wind strikes the front wings 24,24, the forward end portions of the wing tips will close inwardlytowardeach other, such inward movement being allowed by the yielding ofside arms l8, l8. The inward deflection of the forward end portions ofthe wing tips produces a generally conical configuration at the frontend of the kite which prevents sidewise dipping and reduces the windpressure on the front wings; Under strong wind conditions, the ends ofthe side arms l8, It may almost touch eachother. Due to the resiliencyof the wire H, the wire resumes its normal configuration of Figure 2when the wind gust has passed. The'kite thus adjusts itself to thestrength of the wind and flies steadily without dipping. i

The folded wire 20 in the tail portion of the kite holds the tail rigid,said tail acting as a weather vane, maintaining the kite always facingthe wind current. The string 29 does not inter-' fere with the action ofthe tail since it is fastened substantially to the front end of fuselage21 and the fuselage may pivot freely arounclrthe point of connection ofthe string thereto. 7

In a normal wind current, the kite will fly at about a 45 degree angle,but when the wind current becomes stronger the tail portion of the kiterises. In a strong gust of wind, the kite is substantially parallel tothe ground. 7

tion, would be similar to the shape and propertions of the kitedisclosed in Figures 1 to d;-

the kite would be much smaller in size,

kite has been disclosed in the -foregoing description, it will beunderstood that various modifications within the spirit of theinventionmay occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, itits-intended that nolimitations bezplacect onthe invention. except asdefined by the scope-of the appended claims.

Whatis claimed is: I t l: v

airplane: kite comprising. a fuselage; dex-v iblee'wings carriedbysaidiusela-gc, a re silient wire secured to said front wings andfuselage and extending transversely across'the kite, said wire havingforwardly extending arms a'djacent the sideedges of the-wings; and-a.latere all -winged substantially rigid tail carried at; the rearend-lcrsaid: tuselage. w i 2. An: airplane kite vcomprising a sheet. of flex.-ible materialshaped. to define a longitudinally extending: fuselage,laterally extending front laterallyr'extending rear wings; aztransverse:resilient wire secured to the. fuselage and frontwings; said wire havingforwardly extendingmmrs secured :to the end portions of the front and asecond: transverse wire secured to the "it While a specific embodimentof aniairplane tions of the front wings, and a second transverse 1fire-scoured to the fuselage and the rear wings,

said fuselage portion and wires being folded downwardlytodefine aforwardly taperingconfigura tion for the fuselage of the kite,substantially 'V shaped' in cross-section, the front wings beinginclined at a relatively wide angle to each other and the rear wingsbeinjg similarly inclinedat a wide angle with respect to each other, thelength or the-tuselageportion being greater than the spread of the frontwings.

4: airplanekite-comprismg a sheet of Celluloid shaped to define alongitudinally-extendingfuselag e: portion, laterally-extendingfront-wings, and laterally-extending-rear wings, said fuselage portion bing. folded downwardly todefine a forwardly tapering configurationsubstantially V- shaped, in cross-section, the front wings being in.-clined at a relatively wide angle to each other'and therearwings beingsimilarly inclined at a wide lage portion:

angle'with respect to each other, the. length of thefuselageportionbeing greater than. the-spread ofthe tront:wings, and thetrailingedges .of said front wings-tapering'rearwardly toward saidfuse-REUBEN P-Q I LLs.

No references cited.

